Pay data belongs to the public

Published: Sunday, February 10, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 8, 2013 at 5:40 p.m.

Today the Times-News is publishing for the first time a searchable database of salaries for public employees in Henderson County, covering earnings in county and state governments and public education.

Today’s edition also contains an analysis, by staff writer Nathaniel Axtell, of the salaries of 553 public employees who earned more than $50,000 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012. His reporting shows the top 10 local earners make salaries comparable to, or below, their contemporaries around the state and nation, belying the notion that salaries of government employees here are out of line.

The Times-News is publishing this information to provide greater transparency and better access to information of public record. The database and analysis give taxpayers a basis for comparing how public servants here are compensated in relation to state and national norms, and help the public put their earnings and contributions in proper context.

The Times-News’ public salaries database is the result of more than six months’ work by Online Editor Mark Schulman as part of the newspaper’s commitment to make public information more accessible. The public has a right to know this information, but it has not previously been readily available.

In some states, salary information of public employees is easily accessible online. Gathering information for the Times-News investigation, however, required numerous requests for public information from various local and state offices. Moreover, as Schulman and Axtell delved into the numbers, they found in several cases the dollar amounts they had initially been given were incomplete.

In requesting salary information from the District Attorney’s Office, for instance, our staff found the initial numbers furnished included base salary but not state longevity pay, which can add substantially to the total. In another instance, we discovered that Henderson County Public Schools had not included local supplement pay in the figures provided for its employees. Axtell discovered the discrepancy when the state reported a higher number for Superintendent David Jones’ pay than that reported by the school system.

In more than one instance, we found that higher paid public employees in Henderson County earn paychecks strikingly close to national or state norms. For instance, Dr. Molly Parkhill, president of Blue Ridge Community College, earns $168,532, including a base salary of $115,404, set by the State Board of Community Colleges, and roughly $50,000 in local supplement pay allocated by the college’s board of trustees. Nationally, the median salary for the chief executive officer of a two-year institution is $170,157, according to a 2011-12 survey from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

In a similar finding, County Manager Steve Wyatt’s salary of $162,180 nearly matches last year’s median salary of $162,326 for a North Carolina county manager serving a county of 100,000-plus citizens, according to the International City/County Management Association. The Board of Commissioners, which sets the manager’s salary, clearly understands the necessity of offering competitive compensation to attract and keep a top-quality administrator.

Not all salaries of public employees in executive positions in Henderson County are closely aligned with state and national averages. David Jones, superintendent of Henderson County Public Schools, earns $135,129 yearly in his job overseeing the education for approximately 13,500 students. The most recent national data available for comparison is a 2008-09 salary survey published by the Educational Research Service. It shows the average pay for a superintendent of a system with 10,000 to 24,999 students was $176,993, about $41,000 more than Jones is paid.

Superintendents’ salaries are largely determined by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, based on a school system’s average daily membership. Based on those figures, Jones can earn no less than $5,710 per month and no more than $10,679 per month in state pay. Most superintendents earn the maximum, according to Allison Schafer, director of policy for the N.C. School Boards Association. In Jones’ case, that amounts to a state salary of $128,136, with a local supplement of $6,992. In the local school system, all employees who hold teaching certificates are paid a 5.5 percent local supplement, while non-certified employees receive a 2.75 percent local supplement.

In assembling the database and analysis, our goal has been to give readers the best numbers we could get as provided by public bodies. The Times-News is committed to expanding and updating these numbers so that our readers and the public can get a clearer picture of how our tax dollars are spent.

<p>Today the Times-News is publishing for the first time a searchable database of salaries for public employees in Henderson County, covering earnings in county and state governments and public education.</p><p>Today’s edition also contains an analysis, by staff writer Nathaniel Axtell, of the salaries of 553 public employees who earned more than $50,000 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012. His reporting shows the top 10 local earners make salaries comparable to, or below, their contemporaries around the state and nation, belying the notion that salaries of government employees here are out of line.</p><p>The Times-News is publishing this information to provide greater transparency and better access to information of public record. The database and analysis give taxpayers a basis for comparing how public servants here are compensated in relation to state and national norms, and help the public put their earnings and contributions in proper context.</p><p>The Times-News’ public salaries database is the result of more than six months’ work by Online Editor Mark Schulman as part of the newspaper’s commitment to make public information more accessible. The public has a right to know this information, but it has not previously been readily available.</p><p>In some states, salary information of public employees is easily accessible online. Gathering information for the Times-News investigation, however, required numerous requests for public information from various local and state offices. Moreover, as Schulman and Axtell delved into the numbers, they found in several cases the dollar amounts they had initially been given were incomplete.</p><p>In requesting salary information from the District Attorney’s Office, for instance, our staff found the initial numbers furnished included base salary but not state longevity pay, which can add substantially to the total. In another instance, we discovered that Henderson County Public Schools had not included local supplement pay in the figures provided for its employees. Axtell discovered the discrepancy when the state reported a higher number for Superintendent David Jones’ pay than that reported by the school system.</p><p>In more than one instance, we found that higher paid public employees in Henderson County earn paychecks strikingly close to national or state norms. For instance, Dr. Molly Parkhill, president of Blue Ridge Community College, earns $168,532, including a base salary of $115,404, set by the State Board of Community Colleges, and roughly $50,000 in local supplement pay allocated by the college’s board of trustees. Nationally, the median salary for the chief executive officer of a two-year institution is $170,157, according to a 2011-12 survey from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.</p><p>In a similar finding, County Manager Steve Wyatt’s salary of $162,180 nearly matches last year’s median salary of $162,326 for a North Carolina county manager serving a county of 100,000-plus citizens, according to the International City/County Management Association. The Board of Commissioners, which sets the manager’s salary, clearly understands the necessity of offering competitive compensation to attract and keep a top-quality administrator.</p><p>Not all salaries of public employees in executive positions in Henderson County are closely aligned with state and national averages. David Jones, superintendent of Henderson County Public Schools, earns $135,129 yearly in his job overseeing the education for approximately 13,500 students. The most recent national data available for comparison is a 2008-09 salary survey published by the Educational Research Service. It shows the average pay for a superintendent of a system with 10,000 to 24,999 students was $176,993, about $41,000 more than Jones is paid.</p><p>Superintendents’ salaries are largely determined by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, based on a school system’s average daily membership. Based on those figures, Jones can earn no less than $5,710 per month and no more than $10,679 per month in state pay. Most superintendents earn the maximum, according to Allison Schafer, director of policy for the N.C. School Boards Association. In Jones’ case, that amounts to a state salary of $128,136, with a local supplement of $6,992. In the local school system, all employees who hold teaching certificates are paid a 5.5 percent local supplement, while non-certified employees receive a 2.75 percent local supplement.</p><p>In assembling the database and analysis, our goal has been to give readers the best numbers we could get as provided by public bodies. The Times-News is committed to expanding and updating these numbers so that our readers and the public can get a clearer picture of how our tax dollars are spent.</p>